This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Engine assemblies may include a cylinder head defining an intake port having a valve seat insert disposed therein. The interface between the valve seat insert and the cylinder head may include a small gap allowing for the introduction of fuel during injection events. This small gap may trap the fuel between the valve seat insert and cylinder head. In engines burning fuel containing higher percentages of ethanol, this trapped fuel may result in corrosion of the cylinder head. One solution to this problem has been to form passages in the valve seat insert. However, the use of these modified valve seat inserts requires extensive modification to dies used in the manufacture of the traditional inserts or additional expensive machining of existing inserts.